KR20110076597A - Touch-sensitive display apparatus and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A touch-sensitive display device and manufacturing method thereof are provided to increase touch sensing speed regardless of the size of a display panel due to a touch sensing function. CONSTITUTION: Pixels include a color filter area and a non-color filter area. The pixel includes a color filter pattern(150) and a touch pattern(140). The touch patterns of pixels are electrically connected. The marking material layer is driven by the electric field generating between the pixel electrode and the common electrode. The color filter patterns and the touch pattern are formed on the marking material layer.

Description

Touch-sensitive display device and its manufacturing method {Touch-Sensitive Display Apparatus and Method for Manufacturing The Same}

The present invention relates to a touch-sensitive display device and a method of manufacturing the same.

In response to various demands on display devices, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), Electrophoretic Device (Electrophoretic Device): Flat panel displays (EPDs), such as EPDs, have been developed, and research for improving their performance is ongoing.

 Along with the development of the flat panel display device (FPD), research on the user interface is also progressing. The so-called 'touch panel' is one of the most popular user interfaces in recent years. Such a 'touch panel' enables the user to perform an input operation by touching a specific point of the screen.

Various types of touch panels have been proposed, but resistive type touch panels and capacitive type touch panels are mainly used in electronic organizers, PDAs, and mobile phones.

The resistive touch panel, which is advantageous in terms of touch recognition rate and cost compared to the capacitive touch panel, includes two opposing first and second conductive layers. Insulation spacers are positioned at predetermined intervals between the first and second conductive layers to space the conductive layers. When a user touches a specific point, contact of the conductive layers occurs at a corresponding position, and electrodes respectively formed at edges of the first and second conductive layers are energized to obtain an output value corresponding to the touch position.

However, such a touch panel requires two conductive layers and a spacer to be interposed therebetween to be added to the display panel, thereby deteriorating image quality due to light transmittance, increasing the thickness of the display device, and increasing manufacturing costs. Cause.

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a touch-sensitive display device having a high touch sensing speed regardless of the size of the display panel while having a slight deterioration in image quality, increase in thickness, and increase in cost due to the addition of a touch sensing function.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a touch-sensitive display device having a high touch sensing speed regardless of the size of the display panel while the image quality deterioration, thickness increase, and cost increase due to the addition of the touch sensing function is minimal. will be.

In addition to the above aspects, other features and advantages of the present invention will be described below, or will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from such description and description.

In addition, other features and advantages of the present invention may be newly understood through practice of the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention as described above, each pixel includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel includes a color filter area and a non-color filter area, each pixel, Color filter patterns positioned in the color filter area; And a touch pattern positioned in the non-colored filter area.

According to another aspect of the invention, a TFT substrate; A pixel electrode formed on the TFT substrate; An electrophoretic film on said pixel electrode, said electrophoretic film comprising a color filter region and a non-color filter region; Color filter patterns formed on a color filter area of the electrophoretic film; And a touch pattern formed on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a TFT substrate; Forming a pixel electrode on the TFT substrate; Attaching an electrophoretic film on the pixel electrode, the electrophoretic film comprising a color filter region and a non-color filter region; Forming a touch pattern having a first thickness on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film; Forming color filter patterns having a second thickness greater than the first thickness on the color filter region of the electrophoretic film; And attaching a touch unit on the color filter patterns.

General description of the present invention as described above is only for illustrating or illustrating the present invention, it does not limit the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention, by adopting a resistive touch sensing technology exhibiting excellent touch recognition rate, it is possible to minimize the deterioration of image quality, increase in thickness, and increase in cost by minimizing the number of films and parts through which light must pass.

In addition, the touch-sensitive display device of the present invention can freely adjust the touch resolution according to the size of the display device, and as a result, it is possible to improve the touch sensing speed in the large-area display device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of a touch-sensitive display device and a method of manufacturing the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical idea of the present invention may be applied to all display devices having color filter patterns. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by taking an electrophoretic display device as an example for convenience of description.

In describing embodiments of the present invention, when a structure is described as being formed "on" or "below" another structure, such a description may include a third between these structures as well as the structures in contact with each other. It is to be interpreted as including if the structure of is included. However, where the term "immediately above" or "immediately below" is used, it is to be construed that these structures are limited to being in contact with each other.

1 and 2 schematically show an electrophoretic display device and a cell according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electrophoretic display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes m × n cells formed by crossing data lines D1 to Dm and gate lines G1 to Gn with each other. Scanning pulses are applied to the electrophoretic display panel 100 in which the 101 is arranged in a matrix type, the data driver 20 supplying data voltages to the data lines D1 to Dm, and the gate lines G1 to Gn. The gate driver 30 supplies a common voltage, a common voltage generator 40 that supplies a common voltage to the common electrode 132, and controls the data / gator drivers 20 and 30 and the common voltage generator 40. And a control unit 10.

Each cell 101 has thin film transistors T in an intersection region of the data lines D1 to Dm and the gate lines G1 to Gn. The gate electrode of the thin film transistor T is connected to the gate lines G1 to Gn, the source electrode of the thin film transistor T is connected to the data lines D1 to Dm, and the drain electrode of the thin film transistor T is corresponding to the gate electrode of the thin film transistor T. Connected to the pixel electrode 120. The thin film transistor T is turned on in response to scan pulses from the connected gate lines G1 to Gn to transfer data voltages from the connected data lines D1 to Dm to the connected pixel electrode 120. .

As shown in FIG. 2, the electrophoretic display panel 100 has a transparent common electrode 132 on the pixel electrodes 120 for simultaneously supplying a common voltage Vcom to all the cells 101. . In addition, the electrophoretic display panel 100 includes a plurality of microcapsules 133 interposed between the pixel electrode 120 and the common electrode 132. Microcapsules 133 have an electrophoretic dispersion therein. The electrophoretic dispersion includes a dielectric solvent and positively and negatively charged particles 133a and 133b respectively dispersed in the dielectric solvent.

2 illustrates an electrophoretic dispersion in which positively charged black particles 133a and negatively charged white particles 133b are dispersed in a colorless dielectric solvent, but the electrophoretic dispersion of the present invention is limited thereto. Electrophoretic dispersions in which positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles are dispersed in colorless dielectric solvents, electrophoretic dispersions in which charged white particles are dispersed in dielectric solvents containing black dyes, and An electrophoretic dispersion in which the black particles are dispersed in a dielectric solvent including a white dye may be used. In this case, those skilled in the art will understand that the phase and magnitude of the driving voltage waveform described later may vary accordingly.

When the data voltage and the common voltage are respectively applied to the pixel electrode 120 and the common electrode 132, the colored charged particles 133a and 133b in the electrophoretic dispersion are moved to electrodes of opposite polarities by electrophoresis, respectively. do.

The data driver 20 includes a plurality of data driver ICs each including a shift register, a latch, a multiplexer (MUX), an output buffer, and the like. The data driver 20 latches digital image data under the control of the controller 10 and generates a data voltage to be supplied to the data lines D1 to Dm using the digital image data.

The gate driver 30 may include a shift register, a level shifter for converting a swing width of an output signal of the shift register into a swing width suitable for driving the thin film transistor T, and between the level shifter and the gate lines G1 to Gn. A plurality of gate driver ICs each including an output buffer. The gate driver 30 sequentially outputs scan pulses synchronized with the data voltages supplied to the data lines D1 through Dm.

The common voltage generator 40 generates a common voltage Vcom and supplies it to the common electrode 132.

The controller 10 receives the vertical / horizontal synchronization signals Vsync and Hsync and the clock signal CLK from the outside to generate control signals for controlling the operation timing of the data driver 20 and the gate driver 30. . In more detail, the controller 10 generates a data driving control signal DDC and a gate driving control signal GDC using the vertical / horizontal synchronization signals Vsync and Hsync and the clock signal CLK. 20 and the gate driver 30, respectively. The data driving control signal DDC includes a source shift clock SSC, a source start pulse SSP, and a source output enable signal SOE. The gate driving control signal GDC includes a gate start pulse GSP, a gate shift clock GSC, and a gate output enable signal GOE.

The controller 10 determines the waveform of the driving voltage for changing the gray level between images based on the image data provided from the outside, and is supplied to the data driver 20 based on the driving voltage waveform of each cell 101 thus determined. Generate digital image data.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the electrophoretic display device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A to 4E.

3A to 3E are plan views illustrating a method of manufacturing an electrophoretic display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A to 4E are cross-sectional views taken along the line II ′ of FIGS. 3A to 3E. .

First, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 4A, a TFT substrate 110 is manufactured and a pixel electrode 120 is formed for each cell 101 on the TFT substrate 110. The TFT substrate 110 is formed on the substrate, the data lines D1 to Dm and the gate lines G1 to Gn, and the data lines defining the respective cells 101 by crossing on the substrate. Thin film transistors T formed at intersection regions of the gate lines D1 to Dm and the gate lines G1 to Gn, respectively.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIGS. 3B and 4B, an electrophoretic film 130 is attached onto the pixel electrodes 120.

The electrophoretic film 130 on the pixel electrode 120 has a structure in which a base film 131, a common electrode 132, microcapsules 133, and an adhesive layer 134 are sequentially stacked. When the common voltage and the data voltage are respectively applied to the common electrode 132 and the pixel electrode 120, the charged particles 133a and 133b in the microcapsule 133 are moved by electrophoresis to express an image.

The electrophoretic film 130 is stored and transported with a release film (not shown) attached to the adhesive layer 134. The release film is removed immediately before the electrophoretic film 130 is laminated on the TFT substrate 110 having the pixel electrode 120 formed thereon. The adhesive layer 134 is attached to the TFT substrate 110 and the pixel electrode 120 by a laminating process.

The base film 131 is made of glass or plastic, and the common electrode 132 is formed of indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO). The base film 131 and the common electrode 132 should be transparent for image display.

 Microcapsules 133 have an electrophoretic dispersion therein. The electrophoretic dispersion includes a dielectric solvent and positively and negatively charged particles 133a and 133b respectively dispersed in the dielectric solvent. The dielectric solvent is preferably transparent to ensure reflection brightness. Examples thereof include water, alcohol solvents, ester solvents, ketone solvents, aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents, aromatic hydrocarbon solvents, halogenated solvents, and the like, and these materials may be used alone or as a mixture. The dielectric solvent may further comprise a surfactant. The dielectric solvent may be selected to have a low viscosity in terms of ensuring high mobility of the charged particles 133a and 133b. The black particles 133a are, for example, polymers or colloids colored with black dyes such as aniline black and carbon black, and may be positively charged and used. The white particles 133b are, for example, polymers or colloids colored with white dyes such as titanium dioxide and antimony trioxide, and may be negatively charged and used. If necessary, charge control agents, dispersants, lubricants and the like may be further added in addition to these dyes.

In the present specification and drawings, for convenience of description, the present invention will be described using an electrophoretic dispersion in which positively charged black particles 133a and negatively charged white particles 133b are dispersed in a colorless dielectric solvent. However, the electrophoretic dispersion of the present invention is not limited thereto, and an electrophoretic dispersion in which charged white particles are dispersed in a dielectric solvent including a black dye may be used. In this case, when the data voltage and the common voltage are respectively applied to the pixel electrode 120 and the common electrode 132, the white particles move to the electrodes having opposite polarities, thereby displaying black and white. Conversely, electrophoretic dispersions in which charged black particles are dispersed in a dielectric solvent comprising a white dye may be used.

Meanwhile, in order to implement color, color filters of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) should be provided on the electrophoretic film 130. For example, when using a color filter of the QUAD type, four cells 101 form one unit pixel 102. The color filter patterns of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are formed in three cells 101 of the four cells 101. However, color filter patterns are not formed in the other cell 101, in order to increase the reflectance of the electrophoretic display device.

As a result, the electrophoretic film 130 of the present invention may be divided into a color filter region where color filter patterns are to be formed and a non-color filter region where no color filter patterns are to be formed.

3C and 4C, the touch pattern 140 is formed on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film 130. The touch pattern 140 may be formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO or IZO, and may have a thickness of about 0.3 μm to 0.6 μm. The touch pattern 140 may be formed on the electrophoretic film 130 through a photolithography method, a printing method, a printing method, or the like. The touch patterns 140 are electrically connected to each other and have a mesh shape as a whole.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 3D and 4D, a thickness greater than the thickness of the touch pattern 140, for example, about 1 to 2 μm, is applied to the color filter area of the electrophoretic film 130. R, G, and B color filter patterns 150 are formed, respectively. Optionally, the thickness of the color filter patterns 150 may be at least three times the thickness of the touch pattern 140. The color filter patterns 150 may be formed on the electrophoretic film 130 through a photolithography method, a coating method, a printing method, a printing method, or the like.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIGS. 3E and 4E, the touch unit 160 is attached to the color filter patterns 150.

The touch unit 160 includes a touch film 162 directly supported by the color filter patterns 150. The touch film 162 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO and IZO. In addition, the touch unit 160 further includes a protective film 161 for protecting the touch film 162. The protective film 161 may be a plastic film such as a polyethylene tenephthalate (PET) film. The touch film 162 is coated on the protective film 161. Optionally, the touch film 162 may be attached onto the protective film 161 using an adhesive such as an optical clear adhesive (OCA).

According to the present invention, since the color filter patterns 150 are thicker than the touch pattern 140, the touch film 162 is spaced apart from the touch pattern 140. That is, the color filter patterns 150 serve as spacers between the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140. When the thickness of the color filter patterns 150 is greater than or equal to three times the thickness of the touch pattern 140, the color filter patterns 150 serve as a spacer between the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140. It can be done with

According to the present invention, since the touch pattern 140 is formed in a non-color filter area for improving light transmittance or reflectance, that is, a space in which no color filter patterns exist, the thickness of the display device due to the touch pattern 140 is not increased at all. It is not caused. In addition, since the color filter patterns 150 serve as spacers for separating the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140, a separate spacer is not required, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

In the above, the manufacturing method of the electrophoretic display device is described to explain the manufacturing method of the touch-sensitive display device of the present invention. However, the technical idea of the present invention is not limited to the electrophoretic display device. It can be applied to the device as described above.

That is, the touch-sensitive display device of the present invention includes a plurality of pixels, each pixel includes a color filter area and a non-color filter area, and each pixel is a color filter positioned in the color filter area. Patterns and a touch pattern positioned in the non-color filter region. The touch patterns of the plurality of pixels are electrically connected to each other to have a mesh shape as a whole. A touch unit is attached to the color filter patterns.

The touch-sensitive display device further includes a pixel electrode, a common electrode, and a display material layer driven by an electric field generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode. The color filter patterns and the touch pattern are formed on the display material layer.

If the touch-sensitive display device is an electrophoretic display device, the display material layer will include charged particles that can move by electrophoresis. In more detail, the charged particles are positioned between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, and the color filter patterns and the touch pattern are formed on the common electrode.

If the touch-sensitive display device is a liquid crystal display device, the display material layer will include liquid crystal.

5 is an equivalent circuit of the touch patterns 140 having a mesh shape according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the touch patterns 140 of the present invention are formed at intersections of horizontal lines and vertical lines.

When a user touches a specific point of the touch unit 160 for a predetermined input, contact between the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140 occurs at a corresponding position. Before the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140 contact each other, the horizontal and vertical lines exhibit a resistance value of several kΩ, for example. However, when the touch film 162 and the touch pattern 140 are in contact with each other, the resistance values of the horizontal and vertical lines to which the touch pattern 140 is in contact are reduced to, for example, several hundreds of kΩ. Therefore, an output value corresponding to the touch position can be obtained by measuring the change in the resistance value of each line.

In determining the touch position, when the resistance value change is measured for all the lines, the touch resolution of n may be implemented for the display device having the resolution of n.

Optionally, the resistance value change may be measured only for odd lines or even lines in determining the touch position. In this case, a touch resolution of n / 4 may be implemented for a display device having a resolution of n.

In a similar manner, the touch resolution of the touch-sensitive display device of the present invention can be freely adjusted. As the touch resolution is lowered, the amount of data to be processed is smaller, so that the touch sensing speed may be improved.

In summary, the touch-sensitive display device of the present invention can freely adjust the touch resolution according to the size of the display device, and as a result, it is possible to improve the touch sensing speed in the large-area display device.

6 is a plan view of an electrophoretic display device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention before attaching a touch unit, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II 'of FIG. 6.

6 and 7, the electrophoretic display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention employs a stripe type color filter. That is, three cells 101 form one unit pixel, and color filter patterns 250 of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are formed in the three cells. In order to improve the reflectance, the unit pixel includes a window area in which color filter patterns are not formed, that is, a non-color filter area.

The touch pattern 240 is formed on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film 230 attached to the TFT substrate 210 and the pixel electrode 220. The touch pattern 240 is formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO or IZO, and may have a thickness of about 0.3 to 0.6 μm. The touch pattern 240 may be formed on the electrophoretic film 230 through a photolithography method, a coating method, a printing method, a printing method, or the like. The touch patterns 240 are electrically connected to each other and have a mesh shape as a whole.

R, G, B color filter patterns 250 having a thickness greater than the thickness of the touch pattern 240, for example, about 1 to 2 μm, on the color filter region of the electrophoretic film 230. Are formed respectively. Optionally, the thickness of the color filter patterns 250 may be at least three times the thickness of the touch pattern 240. The color filter patterns 150 may be formed on the electrophoretic film 230 through a photolithography method, a coating method, a printing method, a printing method, or the like.

It is to be understood that the embodiments of the present invention described above are merely intended to illustrate or describe the present invention, and to provide a more detailed description of the invention of the claims. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications of the embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention includes all changes and modifications within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims and their equivalents.

The accompanying drawings are included to assist in understanding the present invention and to form a part of the specification, to illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and to explain the principles of the present invention together with the detailed description of the invention.

1 and 2 are views for schematically showing an electrophoretic display device and a cell according to an embodiment of the present invention, respectively,

3A to 3E are plan views illustrating a method of manufacturing an electrophoretic display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4A to 4E are cross-sectional views taken along line II ′ of FIGS. 3A to 3E to illustrate a method of manufacturing an electrophoretic display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

5 is an equivalent circuit of touch patterns having a mesh shape according to an embodiment of the present invention,

6 and 7 are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of the electrophoretic display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention before attaching the touch unit.

<Short description of drawing symbols>

100: display panel 110, 210: TFT substrate

120, 220: pixel electrodes 130, 230: electrophoretic film

140, 240: touch pattern 150, 250: color filter pattern

160: touch unit

Claims (10)

Including a plurality of pixels, Each said pixel comprises a colorfilter area and a non-colorfilter area; Each pixel, Color filter patterns positioned in the color filter area; And And a touch pattern positioned in the non-color filter area. The method of claim 1, And touch patterns of the plurality of pixels are electrically connected to each other. The method of claim 1, Pixel electrodes; Common electrode; And And a display material layer driven by an electric field generated between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, And the color filter patterns and the touch pattern are formed on the display material layer. The method of claim 3, wherein The display material layer is located between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, The display material layer includes charged particles that can move by electrophoresis, The color filter patterns and the touch pattern are formed on the common electrode. The method of claim 3, wherein And the display material layer comprises a liquid crystal. TFT substrate; A pixel electrode formed on the TFT substrate; An electrophoretic film on said pixel electrode, said electrophoretic film comprising a color filter region and a non-color filter region; Color filter patterns formed on a color filter area of the electrophoretic film; And And a touch pattern formed on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film. The method of claim 6, The thickness of the color filter pattern is a touch-sensitive display device, characterized in that more than three times the thickness of the touch pattern. The method of claim 6, And a touch part supported by the color filter patterns and spaced apart from the touch pattern. The method of claim 8, The touch unit includes a touch film, The touch-sensitive display device, characterized in that the touch pattern and the touch film is formed of a transparent conductive material. Manufacturing a TFT substrate; Forming a pixel electrode on the TFT substrate; Attaching an electrophoretic film on the pixel electrode, the electrophoretic film comprising a color filter region and a non-color filter region; Forming a touch pattern having a first thickness on the non-color filter region of the electrophoretic film; Forming color filter patterns having a second thickness greater than the first thickness on the color filter region of the electrophoretic film; And And attaching a touch unit on the color filter patterns.

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